The Tricolor Shiner is native to the Coosa River System and other rivers in the central Mobile Basin in Alabama. They are found in rocky and sandy pools of creeks to medium rivers. Like other members of its genus, Tricolor Shiners have diamond-shaped scales and spawn in crevices. They can be distinguished from the similar Tallapoosa Shiner (C. gibbsi) by the pattern of the tubercles, horny projections used in spawning, on the head of breeding males.